Posts Tagged ‘nafta’

Are you a reporter writing about a local factory closing? Are you writing about trade as an election issue, jobs, the economy or the trade deficit but don’t know where to get good information or how to localize it? Look no further.

“Whether you are a seasoned trade hand or just beginning to look into globalization, or whether you are for or against fair trade, the Trade Data Center will have something for you,” said Travis McArthur, trade and finance researcher for Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch and lead Trade Data Center creator. “We hope that this will serve as a resource for journalists, policymakers, researchers, students – anyone with an interest in the impact of trade policy. It really is your one-stop-shop, and we’ll be updating it frequently with new features.”

Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division, talks about the trade talks that are beginning today in Australia. For a detailed look at what is at stake, visit www.EyesOnTrade.org, Public Citizen’s globalization blog.

Ten years after protesters shut down the WTO ministerial in Seattle and halted WTO expansion, Obama faces a choice. Will he help modernize the global economy? Or will he continue the agenda of the past, which has fostered devastating economic, food and climate crises? Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division, explores the issue in a recent piece in the Nation magazine.

She also paired up with an unlikely ally – a longtime promoter of trade agreements – to pen a Washington Post op-ed explaining how a treaty on global warming could require new trade rules and that allowing the WTO to handle trade disputes over climate matters is a recipe for discord.

This is Jessica, an intern in Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division. She and the crew over there did this video to show how easy it is to set up an offshore tax shelter. The answer to that questions after a couple calls to attorneys in Panama? Easy. Very easy. Yes, the conversation in the video is real. No, she didn’t actually set the corporation up. But she could have and that’s one of the arguments against a NAFTA-type expansion to Panama. Read more about the issues at our sister blog, Eyes on Trade.

We must roll up our sleeves to reverse some of the damaging policies enacted over the past eight years. We have a chance to make real change happen. But we need your help.

We’ve have waited so long for an administration that is willing to promote an agenda for people – not corporations. Now, we have the best opportunity in a decade to put government back on the side of the people. Join us in making our “Citizens’ Agenda” a priority in 2009 and beyond so we can:

From Todd Tucker @ Eyes on Trade: This is some great footage from the Maine Fair Trade Campaign’s recent convention, with none other than our own Lori Wallach [director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division], making the case for a different trade model. Fair trade champion Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Maine) also riles up the crowd about 6 minutes in.